| Vancouver, British Columbia |
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Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Priorities > Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Tour Canada from space Vancouver, British Columbia
 Lush, green Stanley Park and the blue waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay surround downtown Vancouver in this integrated SPOT and Landsat TM satellite image. The natural colour enhancement makes it easy to identify many features including the regular pattern of roads, two bridges over False Creek and high-rises in the central business district. Plumes in the water indicate boat and ship activity, while colour and pattern reveal a major port facility on the northern shore of Burrard Inlet.
Question: Do you think you could keep enlarging this image until even smaller features such as cars, manhole covers and tree branches become visible? [ Answer ]
About this Image
| Location: |
Vancouver, British Columbia |
| NTS map(s): |
92G (1:50,000) |
 Location Map: |
See a detailed map (1:1M) of the region |
| Image Date: |
TM: July 1992, SPOT: July 1993 and November 1993 |
| Satellites/Sensors: |
Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and SPOT Panchromatic mode (PLA) |
| Resolution: |
10 m pixels |
| Image Area: |
6.27 km by 6.59 km |
| Image Features: |
Urban landscape, roads, park, bridge, dock, lake, trail, highway, aquatic vegetation, wharf, railway, freighter, harbour, transportation, shadow |
| Related Tour Images: |
Calgary, Alberta; Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ottawa, Ontario; Québec City, Québec |
| Related Glossary Terms: |
These terms from the CCRS Glossary may help you to understand this image and its interpretation:
additive colour, change detection, colour composite, image enhancement, image texture, tone, brightness, contrast |
| Related Tutorial Sections: |
These sections of the "Fundamentals of Remote Sensing" tutorial by CCRS will help you to better understand this image and its interpretation:
2.8 4.2 4.8
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| Image Credits: |
Part of a Landsat-SPOT image map of Greater Vancouver, prepared (orthorectification, data fusion and enhancement) in 1994 by Pacific Geomatics Ltd. for the Greater Vancouver Regional District
Received by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Processed by RADARSAT International
TRIM elevation data from the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks |
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Additional
Information: | Two types of satellite images were combined for this presentation. The Landsat TM image provided the spectral information, while the SPOT (panchromatic) image provided the fine spatial resolution. Together, they offer the benefits of both data types. Since the two image sources are separated by about one year, there is a time 'skew' to the merged image. This may not be readily apparent in the more stable features of the image, but can be discerned in features which experience significant change in that time period. |
| Question: |
Do you think you could keep enlarging this image until even smaller features such as cars, manhole covers and tree branches become visible? |
| Answer: |
You can't! Pixel size (resolution) limits how much an image can be enlarged. The limiting pixel size of this image on the ground is 10 x 10 metres. The light from smaller features found within this surface area is averaged to produce just one brightness value for that pixel (in each spectral band). Thus, repeated enlargement will eventually make the edges of the pixel obvious, but no detail will be discernible inside. |
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